1984 New Orleans Saints season

1984 New Orleans Saints season
OwnerJohn Mecom Jr.
General managerBum Phillips
Head coachBum Phillips
Home stadiumLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC West
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersDE Bruce Clark
LB Rickey Jackson
P Brian Hansen

The 1984 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 18th as a member of the National Football League. They were unable to improve on their previous season's output of 8–8, winning only seven games.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the eighteenth consecutive season. The Saints started out winning three of their first five games. However, the Saints would struggle as newly acquired quarterback Richard Todd threw 19 interceptions to just 11 touchdowns as the Saints again finished the season with a losing record at 7-9. It was in week 6 against the Bears that Walter Payton passed Jim Brown to become the NFL's all-time leading rusher.

Todd was acquired from the New York Jets for a first-round draft choice, and he beat out the aging Ken Stabler for the starting job at training camp, the Saints' last at Vero Beach, Florida. Stabler, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, retired midway through the season. Todd and Stabler both played for the Alabama Crimson Tide under coach Bear Bryant.

Following the loss to the Bears, the Saints traded for Houston Oilers running back Earl Campbell, reuniting the number one selection in the 1978 draft and 1977 Heisman Trophy winner with coach Bum Phillips, the Oilers' coach from 1975-80. Campbell joined 1980 Heisman recipient and 1981 first overall selection George Rogers in the New Orleans backfield.

Late in the season, owner John Mecom Jr., who purchased the Saints as an expansion franchise for $8.5 million in late 1966, announced he would sell the team, with an asking price of $70 million ($212 million in 2024 dollars). Fears abounded across Louisiana the team would be moved to Jacksonville if Mecom could not find a local buyer. Eventually, the team was sold in early 1985 to New Orleans native and car magnate Tom Benson, with Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards brokering the deal.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1984 NFL draft
1984 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
2 42 Jumpy Geathers  Defensive end Wichita State
3 68 Terry Hoage  Free Safety Georgia
3 69 Tyrone Anthony  Running back North Carolina
4 97 Joel Hilgenberg *  Center Iowa
5 123 Jitter Fields  Defensive back Texas
6 156 Don Thorp  Defensive tackle Illinois
8 210 Clemon Terrell  Running back Southern Miss
9 237 Brian Hansen *  Punter Sioux Falls
10 264 Paul Gray  Linebacker Western Kentucky
11 291 Michel Bourgeau  Defensive end Boise State
12 324 Byron Nelson  Offensive tackle Arizona
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1984 New Orleans Saints staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro

Roster

1984 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Transactions

  • October 10, 1984: The New Orleans Saints in exchange for their top choice in the 1985 NFL draft to the Houston Oilers in exchange for running back Earl Campbell.[3]

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 2 Atlanta Falcons L 28–36 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 66,652
2 September 9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–13 1–1 Louisiana Superdome 54,686
3 September 16 at San Francisco 49ers L 20–30 1–2 Candlestick Park 57,611
4 September 23 St. Louis Cardinals W 34–24 2–2 Louisiana Superdome 58,723
5 September 30 at Houston Oilers W 27–10 3–2 Astrodome 43,108
6 October 7 at Chicago Bears L 7–20 3–3 Soldier Field 53,752
7 October 14 Los Angeles Rams L 10–28 3–4 Louisiana Superdome 63,161
8 October 21 at Dallas Cowboys L 27–30 (OT) 3–5 Texas Stadium 50,966
9 October 28 at Cleveland Browns W 16–14 4–5 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 52,489
10 November 4 Green Bay Packers L 13–23 4–6 Louisiana Superdome 57,426
11 November 11 at Atlanta Falcons W 17–13 5–6 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 40,590
12 November 19 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–24 6–6 Louisiana Superdome 66,005
13 November 25 San Francisco 49ers L 3–35 6–7 Louisiana Superdome 65,177
14 December 2 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–34 6–8 Anaheim Stadium 49,348
15 December 9 Cincinnati Bengals L 21–24 6–9 Louisiana Superdome 40,855
16 December 15 at New York Giants W 10–3 7–9 Giants Stadium 63,739
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

Team 1 234Total
• Falcons 5 14710 36
Saints 7 1407 28
  • Date: September 2
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Gene Barth
  • TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

[4]

Week 2

Team 1 234Total
Buccaneers 7 330 13
• Saints 0 737 17
  • Date: September 9
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Gordon McCarter

[5]

Week 3 (Sunday, September 16, 1984): at San Francisco 49ers

[6]

Week 3: New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Saints (1–2) 0 10 10020
49ers (3–0) 7 10 01330

at Candlestick Park • San Francisco, California

Team Category Player Statistics
NO Passing Ken Stabler 14/27, 157 YDS, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
Rushing George Rogers 23 CAR, 88 YDS
Receiving Eugene Goodlow 6 REC, 62 YDS, 1 TD
SF Passing Joe Montana 10/17, 128 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Wendell Tyler 10 CAR, 82 YDS, 1 TD
Receiving Freddie Solomon 3 REC, 72 YDS, 1 TD
  • Point spread: 49ers by 5½
  • Over/Under: 45.0 (over)
  • Time of Game:
Saints Game Statistics 49ers
20 First downs 19
31–119 Rushes–yards 32–148
162 Passing yards 179
16–34–5 Passes 13–26–1
2–13 Sacked–yards 3–20
149 Net passing yards 159
268 Total yards 307
166 Return yards 160
3–46.0 Punts 5–40.8
0–0 Fumbles–lost 0–0
4–47 Penalties–yards 6–54
31:38 Time of Possession 28:22

Week 4

Team 1 234Total
Cardinals 0 7710 24
• Saints 10 3714 34
  • Date: September 23
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • TV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw

[7]

Week 5

Team 1 234Total
• Saints 14 3010 27
Oilers 0 037 10
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Astrodome
  • Game start: 12:00 p.m. CDT
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Bob Frederic

[8]

Week 6

Team 1 234Total
Saints 0 700 7
• Bears 6 707 20

[9]

Week 7

Team 1 234Total
• Rams 0 2170 28
Saints 3 007 10
  • Date: October 14
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome
  • Game weather: Indoors (dome)
  • Referee: Chuck Heberling
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Hank Stram

[10]

Week 8

Team 1 234OTTotal
Saints 0 171000 27
• Cowboys 3 30213 30

[11]

Week 9

Team 1 234Total
• Saints 0 1006 16
Browns 0 770 14

[12]

Week 10

Team 1 234Total
• Packers 0 10103 23
Saints 7 303 13

[13]

Week 11

Team 1 234Total
• Saints 10 007 17
Falcons 0 1030 13

[14]

Week 12

Team 1 234Total
Steelers 0 14010 24
• Saints 3 10014 27

[15]

Week 13 (Sunday, November 25, 1984): vs. San Francisco 49ers

[16]

Week 13: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints
Quarter 1 2 34Total
49ers (12–1) 0 7 141435
Saints (6–7) 0 3 003

at Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana

Team Category Player Statistics
SF Passing Joe Montana 14/30, 177 YDS, 2 TDs
Rushing Wendell Tyler 15 CAR, 117 YDS
Receiving Freddie Solomon 3 REC, 63 YDS, 1 TD
NO Passing Richard Todd 9/18, 72 YDS, 1 INT
Rushing George Rogers 21 CAR, 88 YDS
Receiving Tyrone Anthony 4 REC, 31 YDS
  • Point spread: 49ers by 2
  • Over/Under: 42.0 (under)
  • Time of Game:
49ers Game Statistics Saints
22 First downs 12
33–219 Rushes–yards 28–131
201 Passing yards 118
15–32–0 Passes 14–26–1
1–13 Sacked–yards 8–48
188 Net passing yards 70
407 Total yards 201
107 Return yards 113
6–44.3 Punts 8–45.5
1–0 Fumbles–lost 1–0
4–60 Penalties–yards 3–20
27:48 Time of Possession 32:12

Week 14

Team 1 234Total
Saints 0 7014 21
• Rams 14 1037 34

[17]

Week 15

Team 1 234Total
• Bengals 0 3147 24
Saints 0 777 21

[18]

Week 16

Team 1 234Total
• Saints 7 003 10
Giants 0 300 3
Scoring summary
Q18:54NOGajan 2 yard pass from Wilson (Andersen kick)NO 7–0
Q214:31NYGHaji-Sheikh 37 yard field goalNO 7–3
Q413:55NOAndersen 37 yard field goalNO 10–3

[19]

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(1) 15 1 0 .938 6–0 12–0 475 227 W9
Los Angeles Rams(4) 10 6 0 .625 3–3 7–5 346 316 L1
7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 298 361 W1
Atlanta Falcons 4 12 0 .250 2–4 3–9 281 382 W1

References

  1. ^ 1984 New Orleans Saints
  2. ^ "1984 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "Oilers Exchange Campbell For Saints' No. 1 Draft Pick". Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  4. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  5. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  6. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  7. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  8. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  9. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  10. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  11. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  12. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  13. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  14. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  15. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  16. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  17. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  18. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
  19. ^ The Football Database. Retrieved 2017-Nov-29.
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